Principals' News

Principal News 13/06/2025

Dear Banyan Fields Primary School Community,

Tenacity, Equity, Stewardship, Synergy (TESS)

On Friday last week, the staff heard all of the feedback from students, parents and staff and agreed on our revised school values as we move forward. We are currently working on aligning our values with our expected behaviours (Rights, Responsibilities, Privileges) and our schoolwide token economy. You should hear your child talking about TESS a lot over the next few weeks and months.

Tenacity: We try, we learn, we never give up.
Equity: We include, we respect, we support.
Stewardship: We care for people, places, and possibilities.
Synergy: We listen, we learn, we grow together. Synergy: We listen, we learn, we grow together.

Synergy: We listen, we learn, we grow together.

Welcome Mrs. Richey

Zoe Richey joined the team this week, visiting from Derinya Primary School. Zoe is an experienced teacher and learning specialist and is currently working through the Unlocking Potential: Principal Preparation course through the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership. As part of the course, Zoe is completing an internship and will spend the next three weeks shadowing the school leaders at Banyan Fields Primary School.The focus of the internship is to build Zoe’s understanding of how effective schools run.

Inside Our School - A Peek Into PLC Work

This Fortnight's Focus

Our staff continue to prioritise the development of positive classroom behaviours through ongoing work in our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Recently, we've been exploring the School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework, which promotes consistent expectations and helps create a calm, safe, and supportive learning environment across the whole school. A key focus of our discussions has been the role of our school values in shaping student behaviour. With some exciting updates to these values on the horizon, we’re considering how they can be clearly taught, modelled, and reinforced in all areas of school life.

Why This Matters

This work matters because positive behaviour supports better learning, stronger relationships, and a more inclusive school environment for everyone.

Our next steps:

Our PLC work will continue by developing a new reward system to acknowledge and celebrate students who actively demonstrate our values through their everyday actions. By highlighting and encouraging positive behaviour, we aim to strengthen our school culture and ensure every student feels recognised, supported, and empowered to succeed.

Equity: We include, we respect, we support.

Semester One Reports – Available Monday 23 June on COMPASS

Semester One student reports will be available to parents and carers via COMPASS from Monday, 23 June. These reports offer valuable insights into your child’s learning progress during the first half of the year. Teachers have used a variety of assessments and classroom observations to provide a well-rounded view of each student’s achievements.

ICAS Competitions – Register Now!

We’re excited to offer our students the opportunity to showcase their talents by participating in the world-renowned ICAS competition for students in years 2-6.

What is ICAS?

ICAS is an online academic competition that challenges students’ higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills across a range of subjects, including English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies. All participants receive a printed certificate and an online results report to track their progress each year. High achievers may also be awarded an official ICAS medal.

How to Participate

If you would like your child to take part, please follow these steps:

Learn more about ICAS subjects and pricing: ICAS Assessments Website
Read the Privacy Collection Statement (see below)
Read the Terms and Conditions
Go to the Parent Portal to register: ICAS Parent Portal
Enter our school’s unique access code: CCR768
Fill in your child’s details, select the subject(s), and proceed to payment.

Prep Students Celebrate Milo’s Birthday!

It was fantastic to see our Prep students get into the spirit of the celebration by dressing up and joining in the fun for Milo’s surprise birthday party! The joy and excitement on their faces made it a truly memorable occasion. Thank you to our Prep team for creating such a special experience!

NCCD

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability.

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

year of schooling
category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

· formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools

· consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools

· develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured.

Camp

Our Year 5 students head down to the Ranch next week for their annual camp. This is a great opportunity for them to build relationships, showcase their tenacity by involving themselves in experiences they may not normally be able to do and show stewardship by working with others to achieve a certain task! We wish them the best for next week and hope they have a fabulous time.

Swimming

For the last few weeks of term, Year 5 students will also participate in their swimming program. They will walk down to Paul Sadler Swimland for 6 sessions where they will learn valuable water safety skills. At the start of term three, Year 2 students will participate in this program and our Foundation and Year 1 students will take part during term four. More details to follow soon.

Stewardship: We care for people, places, and possibilities.

Evacuation Drill

Next week, on Tuesday June 17th, we have an Evacuation drill scheduled.The purpose of this drill is to ensure that students and staff know how to respond quickly, calmly, and safely during emergencies like fires, gas leaks, or natural disasters. These drills help familiarize everyone with escape routes, emergency assembly points, and safety procedures. Regular practice builds confidence, reduces panic, and ensures a coordinated, efficient evacuation if a real emergency occurs.

Library Overdues

We have recently done an audit of the library and noticed a large number of books are still overdue from last year and Term 1. Please check at home for any overdue library books and return them to school as soon as possible. If you have received an overdue library slip and cannot find this book please inform your child’s class teacher. Returning books on time helps keep our library resources available for all students. Thank you for your support!

Update to Student Dress Code Policy

Due to recent changes in the Department of Education’s student dress code policy, we have updated our school’s policy ahead of schedule. The key change is that branded shorts, skirts, pants, skorts, leggings, and socks are no longer required. Our updated policy now clearly lists which items must be branded and which can be unbranded.

If you would like to review the draft policy, please contact the school office.

Patrick Halpin - Principal

Jacqui Sampson - Assistant Principal

Jennifer Churcher - Assistant Principal

Sharleen Nason - Assistant Principal